Life is a collective creative process. What we blandly and vaguely call social change is about changing the way we live together. Thus, it is also a collective creative process. The process results in creations, which can take on infinite number of forms. The process, well, the process is a dance – a step here, a step there, a gesture, a movement, a connection, a disconnect, a rapid pace, a slow pace, a stumble, a fall, a get-back-up-again moment, a stay-on-the-floor and wonder “What the hell is going on, where is this going?” moment or two or three, a celebration, a commiseration, a question, an answer, an embarrassing moment, a liberating moment, a surprising moment-connection-movement. When we are together creating we bring to each creation an essence, the spirit of the creation.

You might read this and think I’m not talking about you, because you think “I’m not creative!” Ahh, but everyone is creative. To create simply means to bring into being. You, me, he, she, we are all bringing things into being every second: thoughts, words, actions. We create them, and usually unconsciously – that is, we experience them as though they simply happen and we are passive vehicles through which thoughts, words, actions are expressed. This is a choice we make – we choose to be passive or active, ignorant or conscious of what we are creating.

Reflection questions: how conscious are you of what you are creating? What’s tends to be the essence or spirit of your creations?